tourism

Panama sees profile rise

LA PRENSA

world contender:A business magazine recently ranked Panama’s tourism services among the top three in Latin America.1094110

Panama has risen five spots this year in tourism competitiveness, according to the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness ratings, placing it among the business magazine’s top 50 countries. In Latin America, Panama was eclipsed only by Costa Rica and Brazil.

The country’s significant jump in rank owes partly to recently announced plans to update the Tocumen International Airport, as well as new regulations that have opened up greater competition within the tourism industry.

Panama figured highly in categories such as “natural resources,” where it was 6th out of the 130 countries; “bilateral air services agreements;” “port infrastructure;” “hotel prices;” and “air transportation.”

The country lost points, however, in areas including “ease of recruiting foreign staff;” “quality of the education system;” “attitude of the people toward foreign visitors;” “number of available airlines;” and “prevalence of HIV.”

“Panama has enormous advantages for tourism development,” said Nancy Hanna, head of the tourism committee of the American Chamber of Commerce.

But she added that much remains to be done to maximize its potential, especially in the area eco-tourism.

Similar comments were heard among members of the Cámara de Turismo de Panamá, who celebrated some of the country’s achievements at a recent meeting.

They pointed out that the country’s airline, Copa, is highly regarded, ranking fourth among regional carriers in an survey by LatinTrade.

They also pointed to high marks given to Casa del Marisco and the Radisson Decapolis by the magazine.